Reading books that have been on my TBR for a LONG time - July 2024 in a Nuttshell

[@sy.kepler]

We are all fortunate of your commitment to these Nutshells. I wish you a quick(er) recovery.

[@thefantasynuttwork]

@@sy.kepler I appreciate it!

[@SheWasOnlyEvie]

I hope you are feeling better! 💜 I am so intrigued by Kushiel's Dart, even more so now!

[@thefantasynuttwork]

@@SheWasOnlyEvie you should try it!

[@ddookhar]

jacqueline carey's prose is essentially my gold standard in fantasy(along with Hobb) and she demonstrates how effective beautiful prose can be to overcome weaker story elements at times. I liken the Kushiel trilogy alot to Farseer as well, with both series having similar pacing issues but makes up for it with great prose and character work.

[@thefantasynuttwork]

@@ddookhar yeah the writing is so goooooood

[@ddookhar]

@@thefantasynuttwork ive often heard a complaint that her prose is too "purple" but honestly she is as detailed, poetic, nuanced and complete with her text that i cant understand the purple complaint at all.

[@thefantasynuttwork]

@@ddookhar literacy levels are in the dumpster unfortunately lol

[@ericF-17]

I haven't read Carey or Hobb yet but this is a point I've thought about a definitely agree with - I think it probably doesn't get enough attention: Good prose can be very effective for overcoming problems in a book; many things that might be noted as problems if you're not quite as strong of a stylist often get ignored if your writing is beautiful.

[@72mje]

Hope you're fully recovered - being sick sucks. I loved Use of Weapons, hope it's a hit for you! I just watched your reading vlog, you have definitely moved Klara and the Sun way up on my TBR. Can't wait for your August wrap-up video.

[@thefantasynuttwork]

So far loving Use of Weapons

[@darthandy6161]

Pattern Recognition is another excellent Gibson that still lingers in my thoughts after many years. Hope you feel better!

[@thefantasynuttwork]

@@darthandy6161 thanks!!!

[@iSamwise]

Jimmy proving once again why he’s the gigachad of booktube!!!

[@thefantasynuttwork]

@@iSamwise I try hahah

[@michellesreadingshelf]

Klara and the sun! Can’t wait to hear your thoughts. 😀🎉

[@thefantasynuttwork]

@@michellesreadingshelf vlogging it right now!

[@Zechree]

Thank you for powering up and making a video while sick. We appreciate you very much!

[@thefantasynuttwork]

@@Zechree it was fun!

[@esmayrosalyne]

Mad respect for continuing the show even when you're so sick, wishing you a speedy recovery! Hope you have been feeling better since filming! Very glad you got some great reads in last month, I love how you keep pushing old hidden gems onto my radar! Carlos and Yolanda also totally sold me on Pop, 1280, and your review here only made me more (morbidly) curious! Take it easy, Jimmy ☺

[@thefantasynuttwork]

@@esmayrosalyne thanks Esmay!

[@phen0menos]

Hope you feel better soon! Can't wait to hear your thoughts on the Patreon book! 🔥🔥🔥🔥

[@thefantasynuttwork]

@@phen0menos congrats on the win!

[@andrewhanson405]

I'm about 80% through my reread of Kushiel's Dart, it definitely has it's slow moments, but at it's best, it stands toe to toe with just about any fantasy that is not ASOIAF in terms of political intrigue. I am going to need shorter leaner novel after I finish. I might as well do a reread of Neuromancer. I read it when I was sixteen and do not remember much other than that I thought it was so good that I went to the bookstore and purchased 3 more William Gibson books right after. Thanks for doing the upload even though you are feeling under the weather; that mma training you did has got you tough man

[@thefantasynuttwork]

Gibson is a great short read!

[@kendawooda]

Covid does NOT fuck around. It beat my ass as well at the beginning of the year for a while. I would not have been able to read let alone film so props to you.

[@thefantasynuttwork]

@@kendawooda it’s been a really miserable 5 days

[@kendawooda]

@@thefantasynuttwork I couldn’t even swallow when I had it for like 3 days cuz my throat was so swollen. I feel you deeply. Also child of god but good is a great pitch and has me even more excited for pop 1280

[@ajpruitt4628]

hope you recover soon! covid kicked my ass when I had it so I'm impressed you powered through to get us this video, thank you so much but take time to rest!

[@thefantasynuttwork]

@@ajpruitt4628 thank you!

[@BookishTexan]

Been reading to read Neuromancer for years. Thanks for touching it out. Feel better.

[@thefantasynuttwork]

@@BookishTexan hope if ya get to it that you enjoy! And thanks!

[@MacScarfield]

Yes «Neuromancer»! The description of Operation «Screaming Fist» lives rent free in my head! In July I read: «The Stone of Farewell» (Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn, #2) by Tad Williams (Epic Fantasy, a key influence for George R. R. Martin's « A Song of Ice and Fire») «Tiamat's Wrath» (The Expanse, #8) by James S.A. Corey (Space opera) «The Warrior Prophet» (The Prince of Nothing #2) by R. Scott Bakker (Grimdark/Dark Epic Fantasy inspired by the Crusades, Silmarillion & Dune) I really have a hard time picking my July book of the month between «The Stone of Farewell» & «The Warrior Prophet»!😅 Currently reading «To Green Angel Tower» (Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn, #3)!

[@SamPegg90]

YES!! Use of Weapons is one of my favourite books ever. Very tempting to bump something to reread it.

[@thefantasynuttwork]

@@SamPegg90 I hope I love it!

[@MattonBooks]

I had a pretty intense cyberpunk phase back in the day, primarily driven by “I want more Neuromancer.” Glad you liked it. 🙂 Hope you’re back to normal soon!

[@thefantasynuttwork]

@@MattonBooks thanks man! I really need to rewatch the Matrix lol

[@BrianBell7]

glad you are feeling a bit better and were able to make a video!

[@thefantasynuttwork]

@@BrianBell7 thanks bro

[@dalejones100]

I hope you feel better. I recently read Use of Weapons and enjoyed it, and I'm currently reading Neuromancer and loving it. I hope you enjoy Use of Weapons, too.

[@thefantasynuttwork]

@@dalejones100 thank you!

[@nicktankard1244]

Glad you enjoyed Neuromancer. The whole series is excellent and the sequels might be even better.

[@thefantasynuttwork]

@@nicktankard1244 NIIIIIIIIIIICK!!!! I’m definitely gonna read the sequels eventually, his writing is so good

[@nicktankard1244]

@@thefantasynuttwork hey Jimmy! Yeah Gibson is one of a kind. I also like that it ends with “written in Vancouver” :) People say he used to frequent my local bookshop. I can also recommend Idoru. It’s probably my second favorite of his. You might also want to try Web of Angels by John M Ford now that it’s back in print. It was before Neuromancer and highly influential for the genre. Also the prose is just amazing and dreamy

[@thefantasynuttwork]

@@nicktankard1244 I’ll order both right now, I hadn’t heard of either before now. I appreciate the recs!

[@someokiedude9549]

I'll join your Patreon one day, but I like to donate one at a time. It sounds like you had a good month Jimmy. I had me a good one as well. Keep up the good work!

[@thefantasynuttwork]

@@someokiedude9549 no pressure for the Patreon, appreciate you supporting by watching and commenting

[@annak_reads]

Sorry to hear you've been sick, hope you feel better soon! Kushiel's Dart sounds really interesting! This video also made me think I should more deliberately pick up books that have been on my TBR for a long time, so they might actually get read sometime :D

[@thefantasynuttwork]

@@annak_reads I gotta lower my tbr count 😂

[@BooksWithBenghisKahn]

Oh man rest up and feel better! This is getting me pumped to try Neuromancer-I read a different Gibson cyberpunk a while ago that I liked called Idoru, and I should check out the seminal one.

[@thefantasynuttwork]

You may love it!

[@StoryGirl1128]

Hope you’re already feeling better! I’ve had Covid a few times and it’s no fun. Thanks for the July wrap up!

[@thefantasynuttwork]

@@StoryGirl1128 thank you!

[@adamborst]

Get better soon, and keep letting us know about things that are a bit off the beaten path from most of this corner of booktube!

[@thefantasynuttwork]

I’ll do my best to

[@reading_by_myshelf]

Just picked up the first book in the Culture series. Thanks for moving up to the top of my TBR hahaha

[@thefantasynuttwork]

@@reading_by_myshelf woooooo!

[@YouWinILose]

Consider Phlebas is often considered the weakest of the books, but hopefully it grabs you!! It's not a series so much as a collection of stories, so you can read in any order.

[@francb1634]

If you enjoyed Gibson's writing I HIGHLY recommend Burning Chrome, his short story anthology. It dips into different genres (most of it is not straight cyberpunk) and makes for great summer reading.

[@thefantasynuttwork]

@@francb1634 I love the sound of that

[@asajohannesson2012]

I hope you feel better soon!

[@thefantasynuttwork]

Thank you!

[@RedFuryBooks]

Hope you're feeling better!

[@thefantasynuttwork]

@@RedFuryBooks slowly getting there, thanks!

[@epicgamer2727]

I read Neuromancer earlier this year for the first time and the thing that impressed me the most was just Gibson’s style of writing and how he really just punches you into the world off of the first page. I don’t think I’ve read an author recently that has his ability to just set you immediately in a world and really set the tone of the place as concisely and as quickly as him. Chiba City Blues is such a strong first section of a novel.

[@thefantasynuttwork]

@@epicgamer2727 yes it’s super immersive

[@storytoob]

For the love of god man, rest up 😂 glad you enjoyed Pop 1280, and we'll see you soon C&Y

[@thefantasynuttwork]

@@storytoob I plan on sleeping as much as humanly possible this week lol

[@HenrikBrosveet]

Depravity, post apocalypse, cyberpunk and crappy sheriffs. The variety here is neat and impressive. Love to see it, never change Jimmy 😃🤙

[@thefantasynuttwork]

I’ll do my best 😂

[@athysw.e.9562]

wish you a quick recovery !

[@thefantasynuttwork]

Thanks!

[@andrewlavigne44]

Feel better Jimmy! I'm only 55% into book 2 of The Sprawl trilogy (Count Zero) but it's very good so far. At least as good as book 1.

[@thefantasynuttwork]

@@andrewlavigne44 I should continue

[@joshramirez7]

A true man of the people! 🤟

[@thefantasynuttwork]

@@joshramirez7 I try lol

[@YaFeya13]

Kushiel’s Dart, one of my 3 all time favorite book series and probably the most UNDERRATED book series ever written! The rest of the series is just as good by the way….

[@thefantasynuttwork]

I’m tempted to continue

[@YaFeya13]

@@thefantasynuttwork you definitely should…. I actually restarted the series last night, watched your video and got inspired 😊 seriously, it is so good and so underrated, I genuinely don’t get it

[@currangill430]

Hope you feel better soon!

[@thefantasynuttwork]

@@currangill430 thanks buddy

[@currangill430]

@@thefantasynuttwork Sorry KD didntbwork that well for you. I might have to read Neuromancer again I didnt like it that much 😅

[@thefantasynuttwork]

@@currangill430 I liked KD!

[@currangill430]

@@thefantasynuttwork Oh okay. You seemed kinda back and forth with it. Mixed?

[@thefantasynuttwork]

@@currangill430 I’d say mostly positive! Sorry, I should have been clear in the video but I’m half dead right now lol

[@patsmythos]

Feel better, Jimmy!

[@thefantasynuttwork]

@@patsmythos thanks brother

[@RJGibson7]

Pop 1280 is at the top of the list now, I need to start reading shorter books lol! Hope you feel better soon mate!

[@thefantasynuttwork]

@@RJGibson7 appreciate you brother, hope to see you soon!

[@OnlyTheBestFantasyNovels]

Damn, I've never heard Culture described that way. I'm going to have to try it sooner rather than later.

[@thefantasynuttwork]

@@OnlyTheBestFantasyNovels I’m hyped to read more

[@Kristenisfullybookd]

I'm just so happy you didn't hate kushiel's 😅 The indentured servitude part of the night court gets addressed in later books but not the age thing. To help decide on the sequels, if you are interested in the exploration of what it means to be an avatar of kushiel and how far that takes her, and the dynamic between her and Melissande, then keep reading. Though I would warn you the third book goes to much more uncomfortable ends

[@thefantasynuttwork]

@@Kristenisfullybookd I’m tempted to continue

[@samcostello2861]

I read Neuromancer a few years ago. Maybe I'm just dumb, but I had no idea what was going on. Molly was cool.

[@thefantasynuttwork]

@@samcostello2861 it’s a pretty jarring story

[@Gl1tch2263]

Poisoned by your enemies. Sending you my energy like a DBZ spirit bomb.

[@thefantasynuttwork]

@@Gl1tch2263 I’ll need it, I’m out of sensu beans

[@curtjarrell9710]

Feel better, Jimmy.

[@thefantasynuttwork]

Thank you!

[@iDjA7xi]

Hey Jimmy, hope you’re feeling better! Any updates on the one piece reviews?

[@thefantasynuttwork]

@@iDjA7xi thanks! I’m hoping to get back to one piece soon, but no current plans for more videos

[@iDjA7xi]

@@thefantasynuttwork Glad to hear it, hope you enjoy the journey!

[@SarahJ70]

Hope you get well soon! 😢❤ health always comes first ❤

[@thefantasynuttwork]

@@SarahJ70 thank you so much

[@thefantasythinker]

If you've never read it, check out the sci-fi masterworks classic, Earth Abides by George Stewart. One of the best post apocalyptic books I've ever read.

[@thefantasynuttwork]

I definitely will!

[@crzabjj]

Feel better brutha 🤙🤙

[@thefantasynuttwork]

@@crzabjj thanks brotha

[@Rogue_VI]

I really liked the Scholes series.

[@thefantasynuttwork]

So far so good

[@sowercookie]

Kushiel's being first person is fascinating BECAUSE you're in this messed up world where a child gets sold into the sex trade but since the culture sees it as holy no one thinks it's gross, and the rest of the crazy things that happen...the author committed to the conceit and didn't pull her punches. And the politics in it is 👌

[@thefantasynuttwork]

Very true!

[@zeallygreen]

💚 Be kind to yourself

[@thefantasynuttwork]

Always!

[@sw3dge]

Hang in there!

[@thefantasynuttwork]

@@sw3dge doing my best!

[@Montie-Adkins]

So now you have read THE cyberpunk book. I said before the sequels are underrated. If not for Neuromancer Snow Crash would be THE cyberpunk book. Beyond that there is currently Glow and Afterglow, Core Doctorow wrote The Rapture of the Nerds; I would call those must reads in the genre. I DNF Kushiel's at the first sex scene which was some dude violently throwing her around a room. I thought about just skipping such scenes to read the rest but I did not. I think the closest thing that is for BDSM people that I read and got through was Druuna out of Heavy Metal.

[@thefantasynuttwork]

@@Montie-Adkins the sex scenes were very hard to get through when it involved those elements

[@GarrickReads]

We making it out the sick bed with this one

[@thefantasynuttwork]

@@GarrickReads god I hope

[@messy678]

So, pretty sure I have COVID now, too. So forgive me if this rambles. But just wanted to thank you for giving KD a fair chance. I get so tired of it being labeled as “the sex fantasy” books. You have to understand, when this book came out, it was a very different world. Female hood was often portrayed as either the sexpot or the saint, the virgin or the hag. So reading about a female main character who is smart and strong, soft and hard, aggressive and submissive. It blew me away. Showing that as young girls come into their own bodies, there is a power and a sense of wonder in it. We can create life and give comfort and also be weapons. It’s heady stuff. I understand if you choose not to continue- it gets darker, much darker, and stakes are raised. But you also see Phedre grow into adulthood and figure out how to use her curse (to feel pain as pleasure) in her life. When I read the conclusion of the final book, I literally weeped. Thank you for being open minded and once again, showing BookTube how vital it is to read outside your comfort zone sometimes. Hope you feel better soon!

[@thefantasynuttwork]

@@messy678 I love to hear your perspective and in retrospect wish that I had expressed my positive thoughts more than I did cause I did like the book a good amount. What you’ve said here makes me want to read the sequels so job well done! I hope if you have covid it passes quickly, mines dragging on haha

[@messy678]

@@thefantasynuttwork I have only recommended this series once in my whole reading life, lol. It’s dark, sensuous, and lush for sure. But there’s so much more. Carey dives deep into the religious parts which served as a great counterpart to the more sexual side of society. She’s able to show these two sacred practices side by side while following characters who embrace each. Phedre seems to straddle the line, which is what kept me hooked. So to see an author vividly being to life a character who enjoys sex, is smart and strong, has deep friendships and a huge amount of loyalty was like a lightning rod moment for me. Just a word of caution though, I heartily agree with what a precious comment said- pacing is a bit varied, esp in book 2, but it all does come together beautifully. It all unfolds to become a huge story arc involving love, loyalty, morality, parenthood, sex, and the question of what defines you as a person? Your religion? Your family? Your choices? And once you think you know, how do you hold onto that? I e reread the series probably at least 5x and each time, I find something new to appreciate as I grow older, or when I got married or became a parent. It’s all in there, and if you continue, I hope you enjoy the journey!

[@julieevans6482]

Kushiel's Dart gets better with each installment, imo I disagree about "the spice" though, the sex scenes literally take ~1 page top and are often described in quite vague/not standard terms, and there's barely any sex scenes after first ~25%. And I'm NOT a spice reader so I was happy at that. The scenes a bit longer in the 2nd trilogy though (which for me had lower lows and higher highs compared to first trilogy).

[@thefantasynuttwork]

@@julieevans6482 I physically cringed during the anal scene where her she gets splinters under her finger nails. Idk, I think that’s fairly graphic and will make it hard for some people (I know a few who dnfed at that scene) I don’t say spice at a negative btw

[@julieevans6482]

@@thefantasynuttwork I mostly skipped spice and it was very easy to do since the scenes were so short

[@thefantasynuttwork]

@@julieevans6482 the content itself is more what I’m mentioning. I like the book

[@mollybeechwood]

great video! question about the patreon list on screen during the patreon pick: is that up to date? because Im not on it

[@thefantasynuttwork]

I messed up my slide for the video, brain fog lol but you are on my master list I used when I draw the ball, so no worries. My bad haha

[@jeroenadmiraal8714]

Dense and nonlinear? Give it to me baby.

[@thefantasynuttwork]

@@jeroenadmiraal8714 hahah use of weapons buddy read!

[@gtkingly8127]

I might be pushing a button that you might find annoying but I hope that is not the case.......... I really wish I could hear your thoughts on one piece again is there a chance we see you back on dudes talking manga eventually? I check back every month :( PLEASEEEEEEEEEEE FOR US

[@thefantasynuttwork]

@@gtkingly8127 no current plans for that at the moment unfortunately

[@gtkingly8127]

@@thefantasynuttwork are you still enjoying one piece? I understand your reasoning for walking away I just hope you didn’t walk away from the manga itself

[@thefantasynuttwork]

@@gtkingly8127 of course! Been way slower about it but it’s more enjoyable that way tbh

[@veszeljko7645]

Damn that bdsm shit is now in the nuttgod gospel

[@thefantasynuttwork]

@@veszeljko7645 hahahaha

[@OriginalMrocco]

Brain fog gang! Get well soon!

[@thefantasynuttwork]

@@OriginalMrocco thank you!

[@thatsci-firogue]

About fucking time you're getting back to the Culture 😂

[@thefantasynuttwork]

@@thatsci-firogue hahahaha

[@playermartin286]

Reading for whom the bells tolls by hemingway right now and my god it’s boooring! Maybe i’m just an uncultured moron

[@thefantasynuttwork]

@@playermartin286 I’ve struggled with Hemingway. Going to try Men at Arms as my last attempt for him

[@playermartin286]

@@thefantasynuttwork I think you mean a farewell to arms

[@thefantasynuttwork]

@@playermartin286 lmao yes I did

[@thefantasynuttwork]

@@playermartin286 lmao yes I did